confession: I tried a neti pot

The sun has peaked out a couple of days recently...tempting us that spring might be coming. It also seems to be tempting the blooms. Cherry blossoms are a common sight theses days - so pretty. Well, the other thing that seems to be in full bloom is my allergies. Ugh!

I cannot recall EVER having allergies like this. Yes, cats make my eyes itch and my sinuses clog, but that's it. Mom, correct me if I am wrong...but I believe this is the first time that I have been so clogged that I snore like a freight train in sleep and during waking hours I can only breath through my mouth which doesn't seem to be working as well since I cannot seem to catch my breath. One day as my eyes were watering like I'd just cut an onion, my nose was so clogged it felt swollen and I was breathing like an asthmatic my co-worker said, "Sheri, you need a neti pot."

S: A neti pot? what's that?

Well, apparently while I was away in another country Oprah and Dr. Oz introduced America to a tea pot used to pour a saline solution in to your nasal passages to drain them. Pour the water in one nostril and the ooze comes out the other. Though the product had received the Oprah stamp of approval, my only response was YUCK!!! I quickly forgot the suggestion.

Days later, after I'd tried over the counter options and continued to suffer the neti pot was suggested a second time as a remedy for my allergic woes. This time it was my friend Angela, who I suspect was tired of hearing my heavy breathing and nose blowing. Angela took it a step further. She took me to the nearest store, purchased the neti pot for me and then proceeded to force me to use it. You should have seen me, I was squealing like a little child. I have always been too afraid to use nasal spray - why would I pour a saline solution up my nostril? WHY?!!! She is a mother, thus she is used to this kind of behavior and before I knew it she was forcing the issue. When it was over the most amazing thing happened - I could breath. I took many deep breaths and was sold.

I am now the proud owner of a neti pot and would like to say that if your sinuses are backed up it is just what the doctor ordered and you can still trust the Oprah stamp of approval.

I am told that this is only the start of what is to come in a Virginia spring. Supposedly there are days when it gets so bad that there is a layer of yellow pollen on your car and if you open a window in your home it gets on everything. If that is true, then the neti pot is going to be my new best friend.

Have you tried it?

just Sheri, an allergy sufferer